Who your clients spend the majority of their time with, has a HUGE effect on their life, their progress and their success.
It can impact not only who they are but who they may become. It could be possible that people who surround themselves with supportive, positive individuals, are more equipped to overcome problems as well as accomplish big goals.
As a Personal Trainer or Bootcamp Owner, it can be of great benefit – both to you and your client – to find out some details about their social life (just not in a stalker type way!!).
By doing this, you can influence how closely your client is likely to follow a nutrition or exercise program you set them.
So, aside from stalking, what’s the best way to do this?
You could hand your client a form which includes questions designed to assess their level of social support. Alternatively, you may want to open up a gentle discussion with your client, when you have some privacy. Either way, you first need to have gained your client’s trust and established some rapport with them, so that they can be open and honest with you.
Here are some areas in your client’s life you might want to find out about…
Who do they spend the most time with each day and what sort of lifestyle habits do those people have? e.g. do they exercise regularly, or watch what they eat? It may be a spouse or partner, or work colleagues.
Does your client have someone they can follow a healthy lifestyle with? For example, going for walks, going to the gym, preparing healthy meals.
Do work colleagues regularly bring in office treats and how does your client deal with this?
Does your client regularly go out for meals? And if so, who with?
Does your client go out for drinks? And is it one drink on the way home from work on a friday night, or a few drinks every lunchtime?
Does your client belong to any clubs, groups or teams (which involves some physical exercise).
What are the attitudes of the client’s friends and family when discussing nutrition and exercise goals? Are they interested? Supportive? Do they help the client keep informed?
Are they against what the client is doing?
What are the diets like of the people your client lives with?
And do they schedule activities for you that interfere with your nutrition and exercise times / goals?
…………………………….
It makes sense that a client who has a great social network will probably find it much easier to reach their health and fitness goals. But that’s not to imply that without good social support they are doomed to fail.
In any case, by becoming aware of your client’s social temptations, you can work together on strategies for being successful when challenges arise.
So what can be done for a client with a poor network?
There are lots of great things you can do to help support all of your clients, whether they have a good social support system already in place, or not. These will also have a beneficial impact on your PT / Bootcamp business.
Encourage all of your clients to spend time together in some way (even online) on a fairly regular basis.
A group forum where your clients can sign in is a great way for them to gain support from other people who are on a similar journey. Clients will love to be part of a VIP facebook group for example, where they can share ideas, challenges, dilemmas etc with people who will understand. Setting up a group like this is free for you to do, and yet the client will see great value in this.
Invite your clients out for a get together
Examples might include going out for a few drinks, a quiz night, a meal out, or even some sort of ‘event’ where everyone can feel inspired and motivated by each other. It could be a team building exercise, such as an educational seminar or a charity fund raising day. A fund raiser could also generate some excellent PR for your business, so consider the ways in which you can really turn the event to your advantage.
Offering your clients a strong social support structure will not only help them to stay on track, but will also encourage them to retain their membership for longer. It is unlikely they will want to leave ‘the tribe’ that they have become part of.
www.fitprorecipes.co.uk
Like us on facebook
Follow us on twitter
If you are interested in becoming a Fitpro Recipes Affiliate, then please email naomi@fitprorecipes.co.uk for further information